Jeff Bennett threw 2 scoreless innings today and got the win. The spot starter Martin Prado hit the game winning homer and scored the go ahead run in the 8th.

SUP NEGATIVITY!?

You chose the wrong day to make a post like this.

What about that anemic braves offense putting up 8 runs!

but we’ve got Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen making AAA batters look foolish

Would those be the same AAA batters that JoJo Reyes has historically dominated and made look foolish?

Dominating AAA /=/ Effective in MLB

AHHH Booby is senile, the bullpen sux, bring up aaa players because theyre dominating so far “in AAA” we can’t score runs without speed! Wait aren’t the Braves only 1.5 games out of 1st? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I hate to rain on everyone’s “bash the op” parade, but it had been time for Bobby to go for a long time now. What other professional franchise would allow a coach to go 13 years without a championship and then miss the playoffs for 3 straight years and not even hint at his job being in jeopardy? He was able to win when he had the Cy Young staff, but without the greats doing all the work his teams have been mediocre at best. It’s time for new blood to come in and turn this franchise around. ABBOTP in 2010. (Anyone but Bobby or Terry Pendleton)

The only name I’ve heard mentioned regarding a Bobby replacement was Ned Yost. Thoughts?

There’s critics of Bobby Cox, and then there’s critics.

I hate guys like this who say “Why is Bobby repeatedly using these pitchers, they all suck!” and then goes on to name several guys. Not only is it silly to lay all these personnel decision’s at Bobby’s feet when that’s an issue with the front office, but the guys have decent numbers despite being EXTREMELY unlucky (someone might have a .458 BABIP against him, not mentioning names here…).

Most of the time there’s other factors as well, like, your starter got lifted after three innings and your best long relief option is on DL (even though Carlyle actually put up better numbers than Campillo last year, and hasn’t been particularly lucky himself). These seldom come up with the Bobby bashers.

And then you can mention guys putting up stellar numbers in AAA-well, there’s a reason that Jo Jo Reyes continues to get opportunities. Check out his minor league numbers-he keeps posting ERAs like 2.72 or 2.31 with a K/9 rate hovering around 9. That should somehow translate in a major league equivalent around a 3.65 ERA with a K/9 rate around 6, but it never does. But it’s not surprising that the kid keeps getting chances. And given that we have 2.5 starters on the DL, and our top 4 starters are absolutely set, perhaps management isn’t completely nuts either for keeping those guys in AAA and not starting their arbitration clocks.

And there’s plenty of others who are like “Why can’t we use Soriano 4 days in a row?” when the dude had elbow surgery last year. Like Dusty Baker asking “Why can’t Mark Prior throw 132 pitches? I see no reason he can’t.”

Now, I’m not saying that the man is above criticism. Sometimes he makes inexplicable decisions, like having his hot hitters lay down bunts, or intentionally walking, say, Alex Cora. Even that isn’t as bad as some of his critics make it out to be: the count was already 2-1, Cora is left handed with an OBP of .444 (this season), but on deck to pinch hit was a slow, right-handed catcher with an even worse career OBP than Cora, and he was coming on to face a right handed sinkerballer. Castro walks, but even Gameday says that 2 pitches called balls were in the strike zone.

His greatest strength and his greatest weakness are his loyalty to his players. Guys who are struggling will get every chance to fail, and that’s frustrating, but it also gives men the confidence to just play, and you see some great turnarounds-like pretty much everything we got from Mike Remlinger over 4 great seasons, or the great 2001 season John Burkett had, etc.

how dare you?

Well, whether anyone wants it or not, Bobby will be replaced, because he has to retire some day. I bet he will finally hang it up after this season. So moot point right? Let’s move on.

If anything you guys should be debating who is going to replace the great Bobby Cox (one of the greatest managers in history). My bet is that it will be Terry Pendleton. You don’t keep someone who has a reputation like this on your staff for this long without using him as your successor. I’m giving him about a 90% chance he WILL be the next Braves manager.

And why would he be a bad manager anyway? What beef do you guys have? Look around the league, do you really think any of these guys are lightyears ahead of Pendleton? Managing isn’t that difficult. There really isn’t a lot of tactics a manager can do and just putting in the guys who are expected to start will get you plenty of wins without even doing any thinking. Frankly, what Bobby has done over the years has been remarkable because what it really comes down to is getting the respect from your players and getting them to perform up to expectations at least on the desire side. Can’t affect performance too much since that has a lot to do with arms, legs and the brain, but if anyone can ensure a decent attitude, play into the Braves system, and LISTEN, it’s Bobby Cox—probably THE most respected man in baseball from a shear numbers standpoint. Who doesn’t respect the guy?

So you know right off the bat, if you play for the Braves, there won’t be any bitching and moaning (yeah, Frenchy—but that didn’t last long), so the attitude will be there. Then it is just a matter of getting guys to use their stuff to the best of their abilities.

I say, lay off Bobby Cox. Let him have this one season. We probably aren’t going anywhere this season anyway. 2010 and 2011 is where it is at and we WILL have a new manager then.

Nobody has meant more to this franchise than perhaps Hank Aaron.

With that said…

Okay, so Bobby is rather conservative. This team is not THIS slow—no team is this slow. Every time we get someone on first with less than two outs the play will be what? Come on 20 years of bunting is too much. Honestly, I’m sick of the bunt. It is an OUT. This team should be running and hitting more. We have plenty of guys who can make contact or at least cut down on their swings and put the ball in play. Chipper can do it and even Francoeur cuts down on his swing to get the RBI. Since this team is not the typical Bobby’s Bombers we need to start manufacturing runs and that means running. Not necessarily stealing but come on, at least send the runner and swing away! Outside of the pitcher and Schafer, we have a whole team who can bat .290-.300 if they put their minds to it.

And really, stealing a few bases wouldn’t be out of the question either. A lot of very slow guys have a few stolen bases in their career numbers just because they aren’t stupid. They really truly need to bring in someone to teach this team to steal. I agree that it shouldn’t be a part of their total offense but if they are going to run and hit, they need to be in a decent position to get to second base if the batter misses the ball!

Okay, it’s not going to happen this season, but that’s part of my wish list for next season if Bobby retires. Get more action in the offense!!!

By the way, I think of a few guys right off the bat who should be stealing: Schafer for one. He doesn’t have any reason why he shouldn’t be stealing ahead of the pitcher. He’s been on 1st enough given all those walks. What about Escobar? Not a great threat but come on, he’s only 26 years old. Anyone at that age should be able to swipe at least 15-20. What about Infante? What about Frenchy? He is only 25 years oldl and supposedly a hell of an athlete. He should steal 15 bases every year—at least. Even Johnson should make up for his anemic season by stealing bases. He is only 27 years old so he should have some legs.

Okay, this is just complaining because it is not going to happen this year. We simply need a manager next year who is going to be a lot more aggressive. Hell, make me the manager! I’ll send ’em!